Skip to main content

Aquatennial

Usually I do a Friday Festival and highlight a festival from Minnesota and two other states. This week I am doing a combined Friday and Saturday look into the biggest festival of the summer in Minnesota, The Minneapolis Aquatennial. It is coined “The best days of summer” because it celebrates the City of Lakes, Minneapolis and the lakes that reside within the city.

The event is actually in its last weekend. Tonight was the fireworks, something everyone in the whole family enjoys. Besides the fireworks there are a number of other events that are fun to watch and participate in. The Torchlight parade occurred on Wednesday and that event is always a fun family event.
One event I have attended before that is a lot of fun to watch is the milk carton boat races. People and teams of people create boats from only milk cartons and then they race them in Lake Calhoun. Here is a blurb from the official Aquatennial website about the carton races.

·         An Aquatennial favorite since 1971, the annual flotilla of fun will feature several races of carton contraptions throughout the day at the Star Tribune Beach Bash! Registration is available at www.aquatennial.com. Milk Carton Boat Races Schedule: - 10 AM: Commodore’s Race: ages 19 and over - 11 AM: Skipper’s Race: cow theme race to design a bovine boat - 12 PM: Lieutenant’s Race: ages 12 and under - 1 PM: Admiral’s Race: race with a minimum of 5 crew members - 2 PM: The Best Days of Summer Race: have fun and get creative! The more milk cartons the better- 3 PM: 'Celebrating 73 Years' Race: watch as the Aquatennial races against the Saint Paul Winter Carnival in this annual tradition! - 3:30 PM: Awards Ceremony
Courtesy: Richard Westley Wong

There were water ski exhibitions on the Mississippi river, Beach bashes, and ice cream socials among many other fun events. I grew up in Minneapolis and went to a number of these events as a child. Next year when the event rolls around again take some time to enjoy the lakes the fill the city of Minneapolis.

This year is water under the bridge so until next year, we wait until the water freezes in St Paul for the Winter Carnival.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where Have I Been?

 The title of this article is apropos since I haven't blogged in almost 12 years. I plan to start this blog up again and try to blog on a consistent basis. I will also be broadening the topics that I write about. Be sure to subscribe so you can get notifications about when I post. So what have I been up to since that October day in 2013 when I made my last blog? Let me recap for you. When that post happened I was in the middle of my Toastmaster journey and I'm happy to say that I crossed the Toastmaster finish line by earning my DTM. I didn't continue in Toastmasters after that since I changed jobs and took my leadership skills to Mathnasium and started running a Mathnasium in Blaine MN in 2016. I got the opportunity to blend my education degree with my MBA and use it as the Director of the Mathnasium in Blaine. I also had the opportunity to be the director at one in St Louis Park and one in  Andover. I ran these until 2023 when I decided to go back into the classroom and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Team of Rivals

 Today I'm going to give you a book review. My favorite books to read are non-fiction books about baseball seasons, baseball players, presidents, or history. The book I'm currently reading and almost done with is "Team Of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin published in 2005. This book is 754 pages and I have 23 pages left so I think I can give you a good indication about the book. This book is really a retelling of the political career and presidency of Abraham Lincoln as told through extensive research into diaries and memoirs of those who worked closely with Lincoln. I have really enjoyed this book and the writing of Kearns. She is able to piece together all of her information about Lincoln's presidency and life during that time. She gives us up close narratives of the behind the scenes at the White House and his cabinet especially during the civil war. More often than not Presidents will give cabinet spots to friends. This book shows that Lincoln surrounded himsel...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Audience

Any time you give a presentation it is not only the presentation that is important but the audience may be just as important. It is the audience that you are selling your idea to and presenting the information to as well. It is important to make sure you are meeting the needs of your audience. In that regard you need to understand the types of people that could make up your audience. We are looking at the concept of SOW and REAP. The SOW portion was the presentation itself and it included Substance, Ownership and WOW Factor. The REAP is the audience, starting Monday I will address what the R stands for. First lets look at the principle of sowing and reaping. The idea is that whatever you sow that you will also reap. If you plant corn you should reap corn. In our little scenario if you plant a quality presentation with great ideas you should be able to reap success. If you present a bland and boring presentation your will probably put your audience to sleep and your idea and present...
Post a Comment
Read more